Coin-controlled operating mechanism for vending machines



April 28, 1931. H. c. WILLIAMSON 1,302,488

COIN CONTROLLED OPERATING MECHANISM FOR VENDING MACHINES Filed April 26, 1930 2Sheets-Sheet 1 lihlilliannao Ap 23, 1931- H. c. WILLIAMSON 1,802,488

COIN CONTROLLED OPERATING MECHANISM FOR VENDING mcnnws Filed pril 26, 1930 2 .Sh eets-Sheet 2 r V a;

l1. (Ch/illia7725an- Patented Apr. 28, 1931 e'rEN'r Fries HENRY G. WILLIAMSON, OF MARLIN, TEXAS Application filed April 26,

This invention relates to coin controlled operated mechanism for vending machines and particularly to that class of machines wherein tae coin after it passes various forms of fraud preventing devices is caught in a pocket carried by a wheel or other actuating device, the coin acting to lift a detent by camming against the detent whereby to permit the actuating device to be manually rotated r otherwise shifted to complete the actuation of the vending mechanism, the mechanism which forms the subjec -matter of the present case being particularly designed to be used in connection with the vending machine disclosed in my pending application for patent,

Serial No. 447,649, filed of even date herewith.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a very compact coin controlled mechanism of the character stated which may be mounted upon a supporting plate removable as a whole from the vending machine or applicable as a whole thereto.

A further object is to provide a mechanism of this character which includes an actuating wheel and means for holding it from actuation unless a coin is deposited, and means for causing a full stroke of the actuating mechanism before a return thereof to its initial position, and means whereby allied coins, coins of smaller denomination tl an those for which the machine is designed, slugs or coins of the wrong diameter or thickness are prevented from being discharged into the pocket in said actuating wheel or member.

A further object is to provide means de signed for catching slugs or tokens whichare rough or formed with an aperture extending through the token and provide means for positively kicking out the slugs or token retained by said first-named means so that they will not block the path of succeeding coins.

A further object is to provide counterweighted means for permitting a coin of proper weight to descend through the coin chute by depressing said counter-Weighted means, but preventing a coin of too light a weight so passing and provide means for slightly agitating said counter-weighted trap so that it will not become stopped or stuck in 1930. Serial No. 447,650.

any half-way position, or be otherwise prevented from operating properly.

Another object is to provide slug kick-out means and trap agitating means operated from the vending machine operating wheel and so designed that the kick-out means and the agitating means will be operated upon a movement of the wheel in a direction to actuate the machine and upon a reverse movement of the wheel.

A further object is to provide a mechanism of this character in which coins or slugs cannot become stuck and thus block the vending ma chine upon further actuation and in which all slugs, tokens or improper coins are returned to the person who is endeavoring to actuate the machine.

Other objects will appear in the course of the following description.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1 is face view of a coin control mechanism constructed in accordance with my invention;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary section on the line 22 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a section on the line 33 of Figure 2; t

Figure 4 is a section on the line 44 of Figure 1; 30

Figure 5 is a detailed perspective view of the extremity of the slug or token holding lever;

Figure 6 is a perspective view of the eX- v tremity of the kick-out lever;

Referring to these drawings, 10 designates a supporting plate which is provided with a hinge on one side adapted to be bolted to the face of the vending machine cabinet so that this plate may be swung outward by un- 99 locking it and thus access will be had to the coin actuated mechanism, the construction being such that when the plate is swung outward, the plate may be detached from the hinge leaf 11 and may be removed to a workshop and another plate substituted therefor if desired. Mounted upon this plate 10 is a second plate 12 supported by spacing devices 13 of any suitable character. Extending through the plate 10 is a stem or spindle 14;

is-an untoothed space 24.

having a handle upon the exterior of the plate 10 and this stein carries upon it and fast to it the disk or wheel 15 having teeth 16 along a portion of its margin, thus for instance, through nearly half of its periphery. Just beyond the teeth 16, the normally upper portion of the wheel is formed with a pocket 17 having opposed walls, the wall 18 extending downward and inward and the opposite wall being provided with the screw 19 adjustable toward or from the wall 18 to thus gauge the length of the pocket. The front walls of this pocket are formed with an upwardly projecting tooth 20. The disk is cut away at 21 for the accommodation of the adjusting screw 19. Beyond this cut-away portion, the disk is provided with the outwardly projecting arm 22 for a purpose to be later stated.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated, the inner end of the shaft forming spindle 14 is formed with the clutch tooth 23 engageable with a corresponding clutch tooth on the shaft which actuates the vending mechanism proper.

Between the pocket 17 andthe teeth16,there Pivotally mounted in conjunction with the wheel or disk 15 is a double acting pawl 25 which normally projects into the space 24.

This pawl is engaged by a spring 26 which resists the movement of the pawl in either direction. This pawl coacts with the teeth 16 to permit a movement of the disk in a counterclockwise direction in Figure 1, but prevent any reverse movement of the disk until the disk has been completely actuated and the tooth of the pawl 25 has escaped teeth 16. Then and only then can the disk return. This disk is urged in a reverse direction by the spring 27 which surrounds the spindle or shaft 14.

Projecting through the margin of the disk, preferably at the forward end of the untoothed portion 24, is a stop screw 28 bearing against a stop 29 formed in the plate 12, this plate being cut away as at 30 to permit the movement of the stop screw in a counterclockwise direction. Mounted upon the plate 12 is a pawl 31 urged downward by a spring 32 and supported against too great downward movement by a stop This pawl normally bears again the upper edges of the walls of the pocket 1? just in advance of the tooth 20. Thusif any attempt be made to operate the machine without coin being disposed within the pocket- 17, the pawl will engage against the tooth 20 and prevent the rotation of the wheel. If, however, a coin is deposited in'the pocket 17, the rounded edge of this coin will cam against the end of the pawl 31, lifting it and permitting a forward movement 0 t the Wheel or disk.

Extending laterally downward from an uppercorner of the plate 12 is a coin chute 34 whichextends downward at an inclination.

This coin chute then extends straight downward as at 35 and then downward and laterally as at 36, the lower portion of the chute 36 immediately below tne portion 34 being formed by a wall 3'7. This wall 37 is interrupted at 38 and the coin chute is provided with the outwardly projecting ears 39 be tween which is pivoted the trap 40.

The trap 40 has an outwardly projecting screw-threaded arm 41 carrying a counter weight 42. By screwing this countenweight in or out on the screw 41, the action of the counter-weight will be controlled. The trap 40 forms normally a floor to the interrupted portion 38 and any coins that are too light to depress the trap against the action of the counter-weight will roll across the trap 40 and continue down the chute 36. At the end of the chute 86 there is a substantially vertical chute 43 which extends nearly straightdownward and discharges at 44 into a cup 45 which is carried by the wall of the vending machine. There is no upper wall to the chute 36 and disposed just above this chute and mounted upon the plate 12 is a magnet" 46 shown as a horse-shoe magnet, the lower leg of which extends parallel to but above the chute 36. If slug is discharged into the chute 84, which slug is magnetizable, the slug will strike the lower leg on the horse-" shoe magnet and will be held supported thereby and will roll down on this lower leg of the horse-shoe magnet, being suspended by magnetism therefrom. until it reaches the neutral portion of the magnet and will bei.

discharged into'the chute 86 and will then descend into the chute 43 and be discharged into the cup 45. If a coin is of the proper weight, it will counter-balance the weight of the trap 40 and drop through the trap into a chute 47, the upper end of which is just below the trap. This chute has a downwardly and inwardly extending wall 48 so that any coins will be discharged into the vertical body of the chute. The chute at its lower end is downwardly and laterally extended as at 49, this portion 49 being formed with the floor 50 for a portion of its length, the remainder of the chute at its bottom be ing open as at 51 and this portion 51 is 10- cated directly above the pocket 17 so that assuming that a coin has passed into the chute 47, it will drop through this chute on to the wall 50, run down this wall, be stopped by the wall 52, and will drop through the opening 51 into the pocket 17. In order to provide means for catching tokens or slugs which have approximately the weight of the coin to be used, ordinarily a five cent piece, but which are not proper coins, I provide a slot 53 in the portion 49 of the chute, this slot. being somewhat arcuate, and mount upon the plate 12, the relatively long spring finger 54 which extends over this slot and which is formed at its end with the inwardly projecting prong 55. If a slug or token which has passed the trap 40 should drop on to the bottom wall 50 of the chute 48, the prong on the spring finger will be resiliently projected into the hole in the token, whereas if the coin be rough and rude, the coin will be caught by this spring finger and held in the lower portion of the chute 47 and not permitted to be discharged downward along the portion 49 of the chute. In order to dis charge the detained slug from its position upon the wall 50, which, of course, would impede the downward passage of any other coin, I provide the lever 56, which is pivoted at 57 upon the wall of the chute portion 34 and extends downward to the slot 53 and is formed with an inwardly bent lug 58. This is pivotally connected by the link 59 to a lever 60 operating beneath the spring linger 54 and pivoted at 61 upon the plate 12. Below this pivot 61, the lever 60 is formed with a double faced cam 62. The extremity of the arm 22 carries upon it a pin 63 with which this double faced cam is adapted to be engaged. Normally and when the parts are in position, readyto receive a coin, the pin 63 is slightly above the cam.

The wheel 15 has just sufficient motion before the pawl 31 engages the tooth 20, that the pin 63 793F111" a 'ainst the cam 62. will A 7 b O shift the kick-out lever 56 quickly inward and the lever 60 has its upper arm so long relative to the short cam portion 62 that a very quick action is given to the kick-out lever 56 so that the first movement of a person attempting to operate the machine after depositing the slug would cause the kick-out lever 56 to kick the slug from the chute 47 through the open rear end of this chute into the open side of the chute 43 and thus the slug will drop down through the chute 43 and be deposited in the cup 45. A reverse move ment of the wheel 15 under the action of the spring 27 will also act to operate the kickout lever 56 so that any initial actuation of the stem 14 by means of the handle upon the exterior of the vending machine will cause the kickout lever to operate at least once and probably two or three times so that any slugs or other inappropriate tokens or coins which may be detained by the finger 54 will be kicked out, thus freeing the coin chutes 47 and 49 to permit a proper coin to drop through. The lever 56 also carries upon it a finger 66 held in place by an adjusting screw 64, which finger at its free end is angularly turned and is capable of striking against the outwardly projecting portion of the trap 40 so that when this lever is actuated by an initial rotation of the spindle 14, the finger will be projected up against the trap, causing the trap to open and then close or in other words, agitating the trap so that anything which may have been caught by the trap will be released and preventing the trap from becoming stuck through corrosion.

As before remarked, the spindle 14 extends through to the front of the plate 10 and carries thereon a suitable handle whereby the spindle may be rotated.

The operation of this mechanism will be obvious from what has gone before. A proper coin will pass downward through the chute 34 into the chute 35, will roll down this chute until it strikes the trap 40, will then depress this trap, falling into the chute 47 and will then pass down through this chute 47 and not being detained by the finger 50 will roll downward into the opening 57 and thence be dis charged into the pocket 17. If now the handle be rotated, the disk 15 will be rotated in a counter-clockwise direction and the coin which is lodged in the pocket will lift the pawl 31 permitting the disk to be rotated to cause an actuation of the vending machine in an obvious manner. When the disk has been rotated to a certain predetermined point, the coin will roll out of the pocket and be dis charged into a coin box. If on the other hand, a coin which is magnetizable is deposited in the chute 34, it will roll down this chute until it reaches the chute 35 and at this point will be attracted by the magnet 46 and cling to the magnet and will roll down the lower leg of the magnet and eventually drop into the chute 36 and thence into the chute 43 be discharged into the cup 45. A coin which is too light or which because of its thinness is too light will not depress the trap 40 but will roll over this trap and be discharged into the chute 43 and thence be returned to the depositor. A coin which is of the proper weight and size will depress the trap 40 and will drop into the chute 47 and if the coin is of the proper character, it will not be caught by the finger 54 but will roll down and drop into the pocket in the operating wheel. v 1

If, however, the slug is rough and poorly made as practically all slugs are or if a token is used which is formed with an aperture or which is unduly rough, it will be caught by the prong 55 and then kicked out by the lever 56 in its operation, as beforeexplained. If

the coin passes these devices and falls through the opening 51 or this coin is too thin and small to properly operate the machine as for instance, if the coin is a penny, the coin will pass directly through the pocket 17 and will be discharged against the upper edge of a diagonally extending plate 68 and will roll down this diagonally disposed plate and be discharged into the open side of the lower end of the chute 43 and thence into the cup 45. Thus it will be seen that no coin except one of proper denomination and which has the proper size can be used to actuate the machine. It has been found in actual practice that this coin operated mechanism. will not become operative except by the use of the proper coin, as for instance, a five'cen t piece and that no other slugs or tokens, larger, smaller, thinner, thicker or less than the proper weight or whether made of a magnetizable material or not will operate the mechanism.

While I have illustrated certain details of construction which are believed to be particularly valuable and effective, we do not wish to be limited to this as obviously many changes might be made in the details of construction without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim 1. A coin controlled actuating mechanism for vending machines including a coin chute having a rest by which the coin is momentarily impeded in its descent and below the rest having a discharge opening, the side of the chute being open just above the rest, resilient means above the rest for detaining a slug or token on the rest and preventing its moving to the discharge opening, an operating member having limited initial movement, and means actuated by the limited movement of the operating member acting to dislodge the slug or token from its position on the rest and discharge it from the side opening in the chute.

2. A coin controlled actuating mechanism for vending machines includingaccoin chute having a vertical portion terminating in 'a downwardly inclined portion, the lower end of the vertical portion of the chute at its intersection with the inclined portion being closed and below this closed portion having a discharge opening, the side of the chute immediately above the closed portion being open, an opening in the side wall of the chute, a finger extending over said opening and having an inwardly extending prong, an operating member having limited 7 initial movement, and means actuated by the operating member acting to dislodge the slug detaine d'by said finger and discharge the slug through the side opening in the chute.

3. A coin controlled actuating mechanism for vending machines including a coin chute having a vertical portion terminating at its lower end in a downwardly inclined portion, the downwardly inclined portion at its intersection with the vertical portion being closed and below this closed portion having a discharge opening, the edge wall of the vertical portion of the chute adjacent said closed end having an opening, the face of the clownwardly inclined portion of the chute being longitudinally slotted, means projecting through the slot for resiliently detaining a slug at the lower end of the vertical portion, an ejecting member having its extremity extending through said slot, an operating memher having limited initial movement, and

means actuated by the initial movement of the operating member acting to shift the ejected member backward and forward through said slot to thereby dislodge the slug and discharge it through the side opening in the chute.

4. A coin controlled actuating mechanism for vending machines including a coin chute having a portion extending at an inclination to the horizontal, the bottom of the inclined portion having an opening, a counterweighted trap normally closing said opening and forming a floor to the chute, coin of the proper weight opening the trap, a lighter coin passing over the trap and being discharged from the chute, an actuating member having limited initial movement, and means actuated thereby engaging the trap and causing the oscillation thereof.

5. A coin controlled actuating mechanism for vending machines including a coin chute having an entrance portion extending at an inclination to the horizontal, the bottom of the inclined portion having an openin a counter-weighted trap normally closing said opening and forming a floor to the chute and adapted to be depressed by a coin of proper weight but shunting a coin of lighter weight along the chute, a chute section having a vertical portion disposed below the trap, the vertical portion of the last named chute section opening into a downwardly inclined portion, the downwardly inclined portion having a floor disposed immediately beneath the vertical portion of the chute section and beyond said floor having a discharge opening, the edge of the vertical portion of the chute section adjacent said floor having an opening, the outer wall of the inclined portion of the chutesection having a longitudinally extending slot, a resilient finger extending over said slot and having a prong disposed within the lower end of the vertical chute section, an ejector operating through said slot and being normally disposed at the lower end of the inclined portion thereof, an actuating device having limited initial movement, and means actuated by said initial'movement engaging said trap to oscillate it andoscillating said ejector within the slot to cause the dislodgment of a slug from the lower end of the vertical portion of the chute section and its discharge through the opening in the edge thereof.

6. A coin controlled actuating mechanism for vending machines including a downwardly incline-d entrance coin chute, the bottom of the inclined'chute having an opening intermediate the length of the chute, and a counter-weighted trap normally closing said opening and forming a floor to the chute, a

coin of proper weight opening said trap, a

chute section disposed immediately below the trap and having a vertical portion terminatlng at its lower end in a downwardly 1nclined portion, means at the lower end of the vertical portion for detaining a slug, the lower end of the inclined portion having a discharge opening, an actuating device, means normally preventing a movement of the actuating device in one direction except to a limited extent, and means carried by the actuating device and operable by its limited movement to cause an oscillation of said trap and a dislodgment of a slug detained at the lower end of the vertical portion of the chute and its discharge laterally from the chute.

7. A coin controlled actuating mechanism for vending machines including a coin chute having a portion extending at an inclination to the horizontal, the bottom of the inclined portion having an opening, a counterweighted trap normally closing said opening and forming a floor to the chute, a coin of sufiicient weight causing the opening of the trap, a vertical coin chute section disposed below the trap and receiving the coin therefrom, the vertical section terminating in a downwardly inclined section, there being an opening at the lower end of the downwardly inclined section, and the upper end of the downwardly inclined section having a closed bottom beneath the vertical portion constituting a rest for a coin or slug, the edge of the chute bcing open immediately above the fioor of the inclined portion, the outer wall of the inclined portion being longitudinally slotted, a resilient finger extending along said slot and having a prong disposed within the vertical portion of the chute immediately above the floor thereof, a lever pivoted at its upper end and having its extremity angularly extended into said slot, a finger carried by said lever and adapted to engage the trap as the finger is moved toward the upper end of the slot, means normally permitting a relatively small initial movement of the actuating device but preventing a full movement thereof, a lever linked to the first named lever and having a cam portion, and a member carried by the actuating device and operating over said cam portion upon an initial movement of the actuating device to thus oscillate the first named lever to discharge a slug from the coin chute and simultaneously oscillate the trap. V

8. A coin controlled actuating mechanism for vending machines including a coin chute having an entrance portion extending at an inclination to the horizontal, a second inclined portion below the first and connected to the first named portion by a vertical portion of the chute, the second named portion having an opening intermediate its ends and a counter-weighted trap normally closing said open-.

mg and adapted to open under a coin of proper weight, the upper edge of this portion of the chute being open, a magnet disposed in parallel relation to the upper edge of this portion of the chute whereby to attract magnetizable slugs and permit the slugs to roll down the inclined portion of the chute without touching the trap, a coin chute section having a vertical portion receiving coins passing through said trap, the vertical portion terminating at its lower end in a downwardly inclined portion, said downwardly inclined portion having a floor immediately below the lower end of the vertical portion and beyond this fioor having a discharge opening, the lower end of the vertical portion at its edge having a discharge opening, the outer wall of the inclined portion having a longitudinally extending slot, a resilient finger disposed in said slot and having a slug detent at its extremity, a lever pivoted at its upper end and at its lower end having an angular portion extending into the slot, the lever being normally held at the lower end of the slot and the lever having an adjustable finger adapted, as the lever is moved toward the upper nd of the slot, to engage and oscillate the trap, an actuating device, means permitting a limited initial movement of the actuating device, a lever pivoted intermediate its ends and its upper end being linked to the first named lever, and at its lower end being formed with a double cam and a pin carried by the actuating device and engaging said cam to cause an oscillation of the second named lever when the rotatable member is shifted in either direction.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aflix my signature.

HENRY C. WILLIAMSON. 

